Hood River Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Hood River Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 556,249 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 249,732 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC owned 0.39% of Ciena worth $47,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 108.6% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Ciena by 925.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Ciena by 328.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.54, for a total transaction of $404,872.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 375,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,367,987.20. This represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total transaction of $31,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,435,601.52. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,299,980. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $65.95. 766,194 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,010,610. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.02 and a 200-day moving average of $73.82. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $44.69 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The stock has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.50, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 3.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Northland Securities raised Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.62.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.